


Mothers and Fathers

by Stealthily_Nobody



Series: Dimensional Visitors [8]
Category: Final Fantasy XV, The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-14
Updated: 2017-05-14
Packaged: 2018-10-31 22:02:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10908315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stealthily_Nobody/pseuds/Stealthily_Nobody
Summary: Maryse returns home to the Institute and meets Noct for the first time.





	Mothers and Fathers

“Maryse is returning today.” Jace informed the his parabatai as he plucked a seraph blade from the training room wall and tested its weight. 

“Mother’s returning?” Alec asked, “I thought she’d be in Idris for another month at least.”

“What can I say? They finished the meetings ahead of time.” Jace responded. He’d finally turned to look at Alec instead of at his blade.

“That’s good at least but,” Alec seemed hesitant to finish so Jace moved over to where Alec stood and finished his sentence.

“You’re worried about how she’ll take Nyx and Noct.”

“I guess,” Alec admitted, “We’ve been getting along so well since the Dark War, but I’m still afraid that she’ll become angry at me for allowing strangers into the Institute.”

“Why would you get in trouble?” Jace asked, “Clary and I are in charge of the Institute in Maryse’s absence and we were the ones to bring Nyx and Noct to the Institute.”

Alec looked down at the floor when he said, “I know. It’s just that I still feel like she expects so much from me that I can’t seem to live up to.” 

“Hey,” Jace said as he slapped Alec on the shoulder and made Alec look him in the eyes, “You know she loves you, right? She’s proud of you and always will be.”

Alec closed his eyes and when he opened them they glowed brighter than before. “Thanks Jace, I needed that.”

“Any time. After all, what are Parabatai for if not to give wonderful advice about life problems.” Jace said with a bow, “Go on, thank the man who makes your life better just by breathing in the same air as you.”

Alec smirked slightly and commented, “Well then I guess I better pay Magnus a visit.”

“Oh no you don’t!” Jace exclaimed as he grabbed a hold of Alec’s training gear, “We have better things to do.” 

Alec shook his head but allowed Jace to lead him back into the training room. They were both smiling widely and Alec couldn’t help but feel content with life.

 

* * *

 

“Hurry Noctis, my mother will be home at any moment.” Isabelle urged Noct when he only rolled over in bed to return to sleep.

“That won’t work, Isabelle,” Nyx told her from where he sat. His whole body shook as he tried to keep himself from laughing. He loved watching people other than himself attempt to wake the sleeping prince, and besides from Ignis none really had any chance. However, it was always humorous to see confident people lose their cool as Noct refused to wake no matter what they did. 

Isabelle wasn’t amused, “Noct I swear if you don’t wake up right now I’m going to tie you up in the training room rafters and leave you there.”

Once again Noct made no indication that he heard Isabelle’s threat. Nyx snorted as he failed to suppress his laughter. Finally, he took pity on the girl and padded over to Noct. There, he gently kissed the slumbering prince and whispered, “Wake up, princess. Your Prince Charming has arrived.” 

Isabelle watched in utter silence as Noct’s eyelids flickered open as if he really were sleeping beauty awakening from her 100 year long nap. Gingerly, Noct sat up and peered around the room. However, everything zoomed in and out of focus as his mind wasn’t quite awake.

“Ugh, what is it?” Noct asked as he blinked his eyes rapidly to clear away the sleep.

“I’m done my part. You’re up, Lightwood,” Nyx told Isabelle before he sauntered back to his seat away from the bed.

“Right,” Isabelle was nothing is not to the point, “Up you get Noctis. My mother will be back any minute now.”

“Your mother?” Noct asked. He’d been half asleep the day before when the discussion about Maryse had come up and hadn’t really remembered much. 

“Yes, we talk about this yesterday, remember? You need to be presentable when she shows up and make a good impression. You too, Nyx.” Isabelle looked pointedly at Nyx.

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll make sure we’re ready to go in no time.” Nyx said before smiling, “Now get out unless you want to see Noct’s underwear.”

“I’m going, I’m going.” Isabelle exclaimed as she exited the room, “No funny business, you hear me?”

“Loud and clear, commander.” Nyx called out cheerfully as the door slammed shut behind Isabelle. 

The moment that Isabelle was gone Noct rolled over and tried to go back to bed. Nyx smiled gently and crept to the prince, “Up we get, Princess.”

Noct looked at Nyx and then the clock hanging innocently on the wall, which read 6:30. Noct groaned and moaned, “It’s too early.”

“I didn’t make the rules.” Nyx told Noct as he lifted the half asleep boy out of bed. 

Noct grumbled and complained but Nyx managed to make him presentable before practically carrying the prince out of the bedroom. There he met Isabelle who’d been waiting for them. She was tapping her foot and when she saw them she pounced on them, “We need to go. My mother will be here any moment now!”

Isabelle dragged the two with her through the Institute until they reached the front entrance where all the other shadowhunters were waiting.

“About time,” Jace scoffed, “Did a  _ demon  _ attack you and prevent you from arriving on time, Ulric?”

“Only the most terrifying  _ daemon  _ of all time. Even Isabelle had a hard time defeating it.”

“I did not,” Isabelle grumbled but didn’t comment any further. She really had no idea how Nyx had been able to wake Noct up so easily when she’d tried for over half an hour. 

The good natured bickering stop in moments when they heard the rickety old elevator move, announcing the arrival of Isabelle and Alec’s mother. Noct heard the footsteps before he saw her. The were that of high heels; a tap, tap, tap just like the sound of water falling in a cave. The sound made Noct feel on edge and he really wanted to return to his room in the Institute and sleep for another 5 days. Before he could mention his idea to Nyx, Maryse Lightwood walked into the open area and Noct was trapped. 

Noct hadn’t been sure what to expect when he met Maryse. When she first appeared he found that she looked eerily similar to her children. Her back was as straight as her long black hair and her blue eyes spoke of war and loss. The second thing about Maryse that he noticed was that she carried a baby, and said baby was blue! Noct looked over at Nyx and saw that he too was startled by the child but not as much as Noct himself was. 

None of the shadowhunters were surprised with the arrival of the blue baby. In fact, Alec walked right up to Maryse and took the child from her. The child giggled happily when he was tucked into Alec’s arms. Alec smiled at the child before returning his gaze to his mother, “How was he? I hope he didn’t cause any trouble.”

Maryse shook her head gently, “He was an angel the whole time. Your father was quite happy to see him.”

Alec let out an audible sigh of relief, “That’s good, but I should probably bring him back to Magnus before he decides to tear down all of New York looking for you and Max.”

Maryse nodded and Alec headed out the way she’d just came. Noct had no idea what was going on. Thankfully, Isabelle noticed Noct’s confused face. She snuck over to where he stood and whispered, “That’s Max. He’s Alec and Magnus’s son, but he’s been in Idris with our mother for the whole time you’ve been here.”

“Thanks Isabelle.” Noct whispered back. 

Noct thought he was quiet and so did Isabelle. However, Maryse had the hearing of a shadowhunter and she turned her head towards the sound of voices. When Maryse saw her daughter talking to a black haired blue eyes boy with a slim structure she froze. Tentatively she reached out to the boy and whispered, “Max? Max is that you?”

Noct twisted him body around to face Maryse as she gathered him up in her arms. Tears gushed down her face as she sobbed to him over and over, “It’s really you. Max, I can’t believe it.”

Noct made no move to escape the woman’s grasp. Nyx was the one who approached her and told her, “His name isn’t Max. Could you please let go of him, you’re making him uncomfortable.” 

With that Maryse sprung away from Noct, “I’m so sorry. It’s just that you look exactly like my brother.”

“Brother?!” Isabelle exclaimed. At this point Noct could take a good look around the room and he saw that all the shadowhunters had identical looks of confusion on their faces. 

“Yes,” Maryse said faintly, “My brother Max, your uncle, left the shadowhunters when he fell in love with a mundane. I’ve never seen him since, but this young man looks so eerily similar that I thought we must be related somehow.”

“Are you saying that he’s my cousin!?” Isabelle looked horribly confused. Noct wished he could reach out to her and comfort her. However, before he could do that she turned to face him and demanded, “What’s your father’s name? Who’s your mother? Does you father have special powers, he must since you have that bloodline ability. What about your mother? Can she do anything out of the ordinary?” 

“I-I” Noct didn’t know how to respond. Isabelle had crossed into a sensitive subject. How do you tell someone that you have no idea what your mother is like? How were you supposed to talk about your deceased father like nothing more than fact? At that very moment Noct desperately wanted to curl up into a ball and hide from Isabelle and her mother’s accusing stares.

Nyx noticed Noct’s discomfort. He then turned to Isabelle and shook his head, “Don’t ask questions about things you don’t know.”

“Why?” Isabelle asked before her face turned pale, “Your father’s dead. I totally forgot! I’m so, so sorry, Noct”

“My mother too,” Noct said in a small voice, “I never knew her, so I can’t answer any of you questions. But, I’m pretty sure that I’m not related to you in any way.”

Isabelle nodded knowingly as logically how could he be related to her when he came from another dimension? She’d been rash and impulsive and that had hurt her friend. 

Maryse on the other hand looked troubled. She once again gathered Noct up into her arms, but this time she radiated a soothing aura. She engulfed Noct in a mother’s warmth and Noct cried. He’d never gotten to experience a mother’s embrace nor had he even felt a mother’s love. Maryse held him for a long time, long past when his tears stopped flowing. When she released him from her grip Noct felt a sense of loss. Maryse stared longingly at Noct before announcing that she needed to shower and headed back to her room. 

When Maryse was out of earshot Noct sat down in a ball and said wistfully, “I wish I got to meet my mother.”

“Yeah,” Jace said in a just as wistful tone before turning to explain to Noct, “I never met my parents. My mother committed suicide after my father died.” 

“Yeah well, at least your mother didn’t kick you out of your own home when she found out you were different.” Simon proclaimed, “We don’t all have the best mother stories.”

“That’s true,” Clary said, “But I think that in the end their love for us is all the really matters. My mother also did some questionable things but in the end it was all for love.”

“I guess I’d have to agree.” Isabelle started slowly, “My mother also wasn’t very nice to me and Alec until after the Dark War. Through it all I knew that she still loved us.” 

“At least your parents loved you. My father was an evil mastermind that wasn’t above using Jace and me as lab rats in his crazy experiments!” Clary blurted out. 

“Lab rats?” Nyx asked.

“Yeah, evil father hell bent on killing off downworlders who create an even crazier brother.” Jace said as he counted the events of his fingers. 

“See Noct,” Nyx said, “Even if your mother’s dead at least your father loved you.”

“I guess,” Noct said, “But he was never really around much. At least I probably would have had more time with my mother.”

“I think your mother loved you,” Simon declared after a long pause, “She must have, right? I mean she gave birth to you and she must have raised you some before she died. My father was the same. He loved my sister and I so much that we were heartbroken when he died.”

Noct let out a muffled cry and Nyx shook his head, “Noct never met his mother. She died at childbirth.” 

“Oh,” Simon said, “I’m sorry Noct. I shouldn’t have said something like that without thinking.”

“It’s okay,” Noct said, “I know that my mother loved me. My father and everyone else who knew her would always tell me, but I wish- I wish I could have felt her love just once. That she at least held me before she died.” 

None of the shadowhunters knew what to say and so they all stood in their little circle in silence. Eventually, however, Clary decided to speak up, “I think that it doesn’t matter where the love we experience comes from but that we get to experience it at all that really counts. I think that a mother’s job is to care for their child. And even if they die before we get to meet them they will always love us regardless.”

“Yeah,” This time Noct smiled, “I was pretty lucky to be loved.”

  
And that is probably the most important fact at the end of the day.

**Author's Note:**

> Happy mother's day! I totally forgot about Max until this moment so the whole Idris idea was kinda rushed. Anyways, thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it.


End file.
